andrea mitchell is another part of our political team in denver. she'll be fact checking the debate for us during our coverage later tonight. but because of breaking news on two fronts, libya and syria, tonight we come to you in your capacity as our chief foreign affairs correspondent. what do you know on both? >> reporter: well, the president was briefed on this latest incident. today syria, according to the u.s. and nato, attacked turkey, which is, of course, a nato ally and a strong u.s. ally across the border, with mortar fire killing reportedly five civilians in a residential area near the border. turkey then retaliated. tonight there was an emergency meeting in brussels. the nato ministers condemning syria for this attack. and also the president, the white house issued a statement from the national security council. hillary clinton spoke to the turkish foreign minister and said the u.s. will support turkey in this. all are condemning syria and holding syria to account. this as also more trouble for the administration with benghazi. the hill i